


bewitched

by moonjoy



Category: Mamamoo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, F/F, Fantasy, Fluff, Happy Ending, Small village, both of them are nerdy, cottagecore vibes, just vibe with this, smartass solar, there is a demon at some point, witch moonbyul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:08:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25577092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonjoy/pseuds/moonjoy
Summary: this town is interesting.it seemed ordinary at first. old people living their last days, small children playing without a care... away from life, away from everything.it used to bore me, until i heard the whispers, too tempting to not mess with.a witch, of all things, right under my grasp.they said she was evil, chaotic.but i had to meet her.-kim yongsun×××a short magical moonsun story
Relationships: Kim Yongsun | Solar/Moon Byulyi | Moonbyul
Comments: 11
Kudos: 63





	1. something new

The berries were fresh, the trees soared high. The sunlight never gave you sunburn, and the wind never slapped you awake. The grass which only got greener as the path went on, looked almost plastic, handcrafted by the gods. It was paradise in a few yards.

Yet, no one went to that corner of the forest.

The village that stood just at the end of the woodland, stood terrified at what lay at the bottom of the beautiful land. There, the eldest of them said, stood a dark, powerful witch. One that cursed people just out of spite, one that radiated the chaos she'd usually carry out behind her back. The old lady was the only one who saw her and her doings, and a village as small and isolated as theirs, didn't question the woman. More age meant more life experience, and no one was about to challenge her about any of her sayings. They all believed it, stayed away from that part of the woods, and went on with their lives.

This fear game had gone on for a couple more years until a young girl questioned it all.

Why had the supposed dark witch created a mini heaven outside of her cabin? Why didn't she never show herself again after that one time the old lady told over and over like a broken cassette? She had many questions, but only gotten blank stares and somehow their answers made their eyes so full in comparison. Her friends tried to stay understanding at first, a couple of them even trying to further her arguments, but it led nowhere. None of their theories could be proven unless they did the unfathomable, the one thing that was too much risk for any fool to take. But Yongsun was no fool, and she was determined to prove her point.

She tied her hair into a low ponytail, her beige dress with the floral accents all too fancy for the town folk. This was a normal stroll, just with a different direction. She bid her goodbyes, her friends looking more gloomy than the cloudy weather would normally give them, but she shook it off and went off her way.

 _Maybe all of it is a_ _ruse_ _, the beauty outside_. She set her first step into the patch of the green carpet, the colors too saturated to be natural. The red berries glowed under the sunlight barely escaping the grey clouds, the ones they were too scared to pick up and use it as medicine. Yongsun wondered if she was right, she could pick some up. It would help her dad with his chronic pain and maybe it would help herself with her weekly migraine getting intense everytime she had enough of everything. The wooden cabin drew her closer, inviting her to the pure and unchanged truth. The windows were almost black, possibly from the amount of times something exploded, and she could see a patch of moss growing on one side of the cabin, but other than those it was scrubbed clean. The steps were parallel to the ground, making no squeaks as she climbed them and reached to the door. She could hear the faint sound of fire cracking, and the small hums of the woman she couldn’t decipher. 

Should she knock? It didn't look locked, but maybe the witch got used to the social crucifixion and saw no reason to lock, or maybe she was that powerful. She set her knuckles on the door, and the two soft taps were enough to open the door wide enough to let her in on the chaos.

First thing in the room was the red glowing cauldron set on the center, smaller than what the tales would have led you to believe. The fire underneath was still burning but the mixture wasn't bubbling or acting up in any way. It rather did a good job at illuminating the room though, better than the bunch of candles silently melting away. Then her eyes darted towards the ceiling and there stood three small puppies chilling in the air, clearly stuck because of the ability of flight that they couldn't possibly control, which finally led to the witch herself.

A spoon full of the mixture on one hand and the other hand pulling her hair out, she was yet to notice Yongsun's intrusion. She huffed, tossing the utensil back at the glowing mess of a potion. "Where have I gone wrong again?"

The image alone was contradicting enough, but Yongsun still had to blink several times to make sure it was real. This wasn't at all how she was told, a strong, intimidating woman who was a master of the dark arts. Chaotic was the only accurate part of the tales, and Yongsun now thought that aspect was under described.

She knocked again, this time stronger to direct the witch's attention to herself. The woman took her gaze off of the helpless puppies, her pupils shrinking with the realization. The mere fright her presence gave the witch made Yongsun think she was either going to die in the following seconds or this:

"What?!"

The witch got scared of her.

Yongsun did the unimaginable as the woman froze in her spot. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

The steaming cauldron, the witch, and the village girl, three most unlikely elements to be present in a single room together. There was nothing to be said, nothing standart to be done, because this was all new to the both of them. 

Instead of dialogue, little barks of the dogs filled up the silence, and before Yongsun could explain why exactly she barged in, the woman turned away from her and back to the mess she created. She stretched her arms up to the first puppy, the brown-white ball of energy jumping right into her. She embraced the dog tightly until she put a little kiss on its forehead, and when she set it on the ground, it didn't fly anymore. "Good thing that's not permanent, right?" she said, her eyes set on the dog but the question directed towards Yongsun.

"I guess?" She watched the same thing happen to the remaining two dogs, an undeniable amazement on her eyes each time the magic happened. Was this it, the all feared dark magic? Making adorable little puppies fly around and the witch more loving than half of the people Yongsun got to know? "I'm so confused."

"First time seeing magic?" She said with a little smirk. A spectator must have been nice to her after all she went through, especially when said spectator was yet to close the small gap in her mouth. "It's okay, you got nothing to be scared of."

She extinguished the fire underneath the cauldron and set the countless little bottles to the shelf that stretched through the entire wall. This wasn't the most ideal place for witchcraft, given how cramped it was, but she seemed accustomed to her little home. Yongsun looked around, trying to find the correct words but failing as she realized there was no right or wrong in this scenario. "I mean, yeah it is." she was able to say.

The witch grabbed a small stool and pushed one for Yongsun to sit as well. Yongsun didn't even hesitate while her mess of a mind turned into coherent sentences. "But I’m also confused because you're told as an evil witch, and if you were "evil", you would have hurt me by now wouldn't you? Mrs. Lee said you burned her house down, why would you do that to a stranger, much less an elderly?"

"Okay, first of all, that was an accident." She interjected before diving into the questions. "It wasn't her house that burned, by the way, it was the little storage room right next to it. I apologized several times too, but she didn't listen. I have to say she has a powerful influence on you guys because damn, the amount of torched idiots I saw the next day were insane."

Yongsun didn't know what to say, except to nod.

"Anyways, what are you here for?"

Oh, this was a question she didn't study for, but then again, did she ever study? It was an ordinary morning with cold eggs and some strawberry jam when she decided to visit the infamous witch, so she didn't really have a reason besides seeking out the truth about her. Though, for some reason, this answer also seemed wrong and incomplete. She looked around to the mess of a place and back to the witch with her oversized robe. "I wanted something new."

"New, as in..?"

"Village life is boring, people are bunch of dumb sheeps and nothing ever happens. When someone told me there was this mysterious witch everyone was scared of, I thought, _what could have_ _possibly_ _happened in this village God seemed to_ _abandon_ _a long time ago_? I want adventure, and it doesn't get better than a witch does it?"

The witch didn't even hesitate in getting excited when the word adventure came out of her lips. "It really doesn't." she admitted. "I'm Moonbyul."

"Yongsun." she said. "Now clean up your cabin and I'll come around in an hour."

She pushed the stool onto the corner, heading for the door. She turned back just at the last second to see Moonbyul amused.

"You're going to tell them about how you survived the dark witch aren't you?"

Yongsun smiled with the mischief shining bright. "Yep, and there's nothing you can do about it."


	2. pink suits you

As promised, Yongsun was at her doorstep exactly an hour later with the complaints of her mother still ringing in her ear. Yongsun had failed to convince her mother, and got a good scolding too as a fun bonus. Her shoulders slumped as she waited for the rattlings to stop. Her brain tried questioning all of this again, but Yongsun stopped herself this time. She had done nothing wrong, therefore there was nothing to be uneasy about. Besides going on a stroll with a witch, a being that's been told to be pure evil. 

Moonbyul came out of the cabin, thankfully ditching the long hat and the robe, and wearing a similar dress as Yongsun's. It was all women could wear in their area anyways, so it was no wonder they almost looked like twins. Yongsun felt the worries of her village life flutter away as they settled on a path that went further away from the people. Yongsun didn't want to see anyone for a good couple of hours, and Moonbyul was all too used to being alone and away. 

"So, what is magic like?" Yongsun asked. She was aware it was too strong of a conversation starter, but this was a question she hadn't shared with her friends, or anyone in the village. To her, magic was interesting. An inner energy that could bend the physical rules of reality that had no explanation as to why it exists; those were the kind of stuff Yongsun liked to wonder on sunny afternoons. After the frightening tales of Mrs. Lee, no one dared even researching about it, which was weird considering their library had plenty of resources for a witch-phobic village. It wasn't much, some objective tellings of witch stories and maybe a couple spells, but it was better than the villainized ones she heard throughout her teenagehood. 

"It's like using something that's a part of you. It feels right." Moonbyul said after some thinking. Yongsun didn't even notice the small pause as she was too busy in her head. "But I won't go out and say it's easy to control."

"I wouldn't have bought it even if you did." Yongsun said, the last hour flashing in her mind. 

"Hey, rude."

"What? I know two instances of you doing magic and none of them went successful for you. I'm just saying what I have observed."

Moonbyul stopped unprompted, leaving Yongsun a couple steps further. When she turned back to see the most childish pout she could ever see from a peer, she couldn't help but laugh at the sight. If the villagers knew it was this easy to hurt the witch, they wouldn't have bothered with the torches. 

"Those were both coincidences, you know." she said, her arms crossed. "Are you challenging me, Yongsun?"

Yongsun didn't know if pushing the chaotic magic inside her was a good idea, but her curiosity got the best of her and she nodded. "Why not? There is no one around." she said. What was the worst that could happen anyways? she thought, before her analytical side barged in. The only times she had seen the witch in action were chaotic and destructive. What if they were right and this whole walk just a trap for Moonbyul to lure her into who knows what. She was a fool for believing a stranger anyways, and that's what her mother yelled her for too. She should have stayed home, she should have never-

 _Poof!_ Yongsun wasn't even done freaking out when the batch of pink flowers plopped into her arms, leaving her alone with the fight or flight response. She chose flight, demonstrated perfectly clear as her shriek scared off the birds away and her feet took her several steps back.

"Are you okay?" Moonbyul asked. Yongsun could sense the genuine concern despite her shock still coursing through her body. This wasn't a trap. "Did I screw up or-"

"No, no you were great." Yongsun picked up one of the smaller flowers tangled in her hair, observing it under the sunlight and brushing her fingers on the petals. Mother nature would have been jealous of her work if she could see it, and truth be told she was too. She then noticed how her lips curled into a smile while observing the flower, making her forget about her mental meltdown. "How did you...you know what, nevermind." Yongsun stopped herself when she saw how visibly satisfied Moonbyul was in impressing her. She didn't like how her feelings were so out in the open. "Don't get all cocky on me, okay? We both saw the flying corgis."

"Change the subject all you want, I saw what I saw." 

Another flower bloomed from her hand, the small sparkles of magic swirling around her creation. Yongsun tried biting her cheeks to prevent getting more vulnerable, but she overcame her pride eventually and a small "Woah." came out to summarize her emotions. Moonbyul stepped closer and Yongsun didn't interject when she brushed a strand of hair aside and tucked the flower onto her ear. 

"Pink suits you."

The clouds made way for sun to shine through where they stood, time slowing down just enough for them to savor each other as they were; pure and overflowing with emotions. Their eyes were locked, and it was impossible to tell who was more bewitched by the other. Yongsun's blond hair looked golden under the sun, as if she was the most magical thing in the forest. Maybe the witch wanted her to look like that, even for a moment, because she was the best thing to happen to her in years of isolation.

The hour of separation in her cabin had been chaos for Moonbyul. She had paced back and forth in the already tight space and tried to come up with any kind of strategy in case Yongsun tried bringing along the rest of the village along, but she couldn't. Just like she was now, the amazed eyes of the young villager had left her brain empty, and she couldn't even consider the possibility of Yongsun betraying her in any way, despite knowing her for less than an hour. She wanted to believe, wholeheartedly, that someone finally saw the good in her.

That's why they stayed silent, a little more. There was nothing they could hide, nothing they thought about besides each other. This scene couldn't last forever, they knew, but they dragged it longer, just enough to make sure they'd dream about it in their sleep. 

"Do you want to turn back?" Moonbyul said in a whisper, so as in to not wake Yongsun up from her own dreamy state. She figured there must have been people waiting for her, work she has to catch up on.

Yongsun blinked several times, just as she did when she first entered her cabin. "No." 

"Oh." 

Moonbyul stepped away, giving time for both of them to come back to their senses. Their heads were down and looking at opposite directions, not daring to stare into each others eyes again in case they fell into them whole. You'd think they wouldn't handle this like two kindergarten children having their first crushes, but they did. 

Their eyes trailed to each other and they giggled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time using ao3, so I hope you enjoyed the story so far! All the chapters are written and I will post them daily~


	3. portraits

"You're out of your mind!"

Yongsun sat on the bench, her head down so that her anger was covered by the shadows. Her friends towered over her with their hands on their hips, reminding Yongsun of her mother who was just as judgemental. It was the very next day, exactly 24 hours after she met the witch everyone so despised, and she was in big trouble.

"Why are you making a big deal out of this?" Another one of her friends spoke up. "Even if she's not as dangerous, it's best to leave her be. If something bad happens here, they're going to blame her and now they're going to blame you over it."

"I don't care." Yongsun said, her lips pursed and the words coming out like a snarl. What they suggested didn't sit right with her at all, although she owed nothing to Moonbyul. She could just not go again, and certainly the witch would understand, but that would mean abandoning her once again, and no human being deserved such thing. "If they blame me over something, least of all witchcraft, it just proves the fact that they're huge idiots."

Her friends fell silent at that analogy, and Yongsun felt she had the higher ground on the argument, but somehow she still felt this wasn't over. The girls’ unpleasant facial expressions didn’t fade away and they constantly made eye contact with each other, as if not everything was out in the open. Yongsun could only look up and wait, and maybe pray for this to end in the process. She wanted to snuck some books from the library outside and read it far, far away from everyone or stay at her room and be mesmerized by the stars once more. Either way, she didn't want people around and meddling with her decisions.

"Visit Mrs. Lee, Yongsun." One of them broke. They knew even before yesterday that she wasn't a fan of the fear mongering stories of the old lady and her never ending frowny face, and now that Yongsun knew she bended certain facts -and burned her own house down, apparently-, she couldn't possibly face who she hated the most; a liar. But alas, she was an elderly and at the end of the day skipping a visit would just be plain rude. Unfortunately she was raised as a kind woman, so she nodded and left her friends to gossip in the village center. 

Sunlight was blinding, her eyes struggling to stay open as she made her way onto the edge of the village where the old lady lived. It was placed as far away from Moonbyul's cabin as possible, but she also knew after the incident the house was rebuilt, so maybe it wasn't that far away in the past. Maybe she was just another nice villager, helping with the harvest, telling fairy tales to children. Yongsun would rather go and meet that version of Mrs. Lee instead of the one she was dragging herself to now. 

Her house stood up from the rest with the darker shade of wood used in constructing the building, one that Yongsun's father helped completing. There were bursts of wild weeds sticking out of her garden and no flowers. In front of the porch stood a gremlin figurine, placed like a greeting ornament. Yongsun looked at the boldly painted smile on the figurine, and felt shivers down her spine. At this point if it came to life and jumped at her, she wouldn't be surprised. She let herself past the porch and onto the front door, knocked firmly and waited until the woman opened it with what Yongsun thought was a carbon copy of the gremlin's smile.

"I have been waiting for you dear." The woman's trembled voice prevented her from giving her the cold shoulder, her empathetic side having mercy on the woman. She hated the fact that she had enough forgiveness even for those who didn't deserve it. 

"I came as soon as I heard, Mrs." She didn't want to keep the lady standing, as her legs didn't look any better than fragile branches, so she stepped inside. The old lady was all too happy in closing down the door and leading her into the depths of the dimly lit house.

Yongsun found herself tailing behind the woman and going into a long corridor decorated with hand painted canvases. Most of them looked like portraits of young women figures, not looking like anyone familiar, but all of them wearing a pendant. Their brown bead like eyes pierced right through Yongsun's soul, like the women were silently judging her presence. She gulped, still paying attention to the details on the oil paintings that were brighter than those she saw around the village. _Must be expensive_ , she thought, and it tugged her mind just a little bit that there were no expensive art supplies around the village, at all.

They swept the entire corridor in silence, the eldest giving enough time for Yongsun to analyze each piece on it's own. Just as the last one came in view, -an incomplete portrait of a black haired woman with the facial details and the pendant missing- , Mrs. Lee coughed to get her attention.

"The harvest isn't looking bright this year, my child."

An odd sentence to start the visit, but Yongsun was too preoccupied in her own mind to even question it. She murmured a faint "Yes.", but didn't add on anything.

"Crops drop dead when they were perfectly healthy a day before, trees near the field falter. Almost like…"

Yongsun knew what was coming, and she didn't like it. What she described seemed like a special outside force interfering, and they both knew who it meant was behind this. There was no way she was talking about such a thing without knowing that Yongsun visited the witch. Who ratted her out, who couldn't keep their mouth shut for less than a day before running to an old lady to spill it out? 

This was going to be yet another game, yet another lie, but no game was played without a cause, an end goal. She assured herself, she just needed to figure out what that was.

"Almost like magic, right?" Yongsun finished. "You think she did it."

Mrs. Lee nodded in agreement. "You are a smart girl, Yongsun. Figure the rest out yourself." She said, turning back on the dead ended corridor and letting Yongsun stare down the all too beautiful women once again. Her eyes trailed on the unfinished one a little longer, but decided to let it go. When she stepped outside and the door slammed shut behind her, she was left alone with her thoughts. 

Mrs. Lee gave her a choice, a chance to pick a side. This was her move at pulling her closer to herself, getting to manipulate her bright mind better. The woman must have known all those times that Yongsun went around questioning her tales, then. Why else would she invite her inside a house almost no one entered besides herself? 

But the old woman was simply too late, because Yongsun found herself running back to the cabin.


	4. outsmarting a crazy lady

Midday had already hit Moonbyul hard even before Yongsun burst through the door and shook her house whole. Her table was overflowing with books, most of them stolen from the town library many years ago, and she was stuck on a particular piece of text. This was nothing unusual, her taking her practice to the books and analyzing where she went wrong, as she often did. However, reading and concentration weren't her strong suits, and when Yongsun slammed the door on her and scared her once again, it didn't help.

Moonbyul looked over at the fallen books, but didn't collect them. "Just because no one comes here, doesn't mean you shouldn't knock." she said. Yongsun didn't even respond, her eyes dozing off to anywhere but Moonbyul, her body sulking and in desperate need to sit down. She grabbed herself a stool and dragged it to the table.

"Something is going to happen." Yongsun said. "But I can't do it. I can't figure out what." she rested her elbows on the tower of books and let her face be buried in her palms, letting one hand slide through to eventually pull her hair out. This was enough excuse for Moonbyul to slam her book shut without even bookmarking where she left off. She didn't want to do anything with it for a good while anyways, and whatever Yongsun was about to say seemed to be enough to keep her busy.

Moonbyul pushed her stool closer to Yongsun. "Let's start with what happened, then we'll see about the future."

First came out incoherent mumbles, then actual sentences. "I don't even know, this might just be me freaking out, but, but-!" As if Moonbyul showed nonexistent signs of disagreement, her head shot up and she pointed her finger in a sharp move onto her face. "Listen to me, okay?"

"Damn, okay."

Yongsun could see the worry she had cast upon her, but couldn't do anything as she was in too deep. "Mrs. Lee invited me to her house, you know she's not the most guest loving person so I went out of curiosity. She took me to this weird corridor with paintings and talked about crops abruptly dying."

Moonbyul's eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what made Yongsun spiral into rushing into her house. "And she couldn't have just wanted the help of a smart woman for a failed harvest?"

"Don't sweet talk me into calming down." She didn't even pause long enough for Moonbyul to interject, though she didn't look like she was going to. "She said it in such a specific way, like something was interfering with the crops. I asked if she meant a magical one, and she said I should figure the rest out myself."

"She thinks I did it, so what? I'm used to being used as a scapegoat." Although her tone was nonchalant, her eyes trailed off to the books, a shade of gloominess shining through. Yongsun, on the other hand, racked her brain to explain the complex analyzes she had been thinking up instead of getting caught up in such small details.

"I mean, you kinda are." she then looked over at the now totally dozed off Moonbyul. "Sorry." she said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"You are the last person who should apologize." she said, a faint smile barely appearing just to make Yongsun feel better. "Continue, I wonder what you made out from your interaction with a crazy lady.

Yongsun didn't have half the mind to correct her on respecting the elderly and whatnot, and laughed instead. "I'm thinking she invited me because she knew I came here yesterday. She knows I'll speak my mind and people will get to know the truth. Keeping control by keeping your enemy close, such a classic move." she stopped, arriving at the knot in her brain. " _Figure the rest out yourself_. Felt like a warning."

"For..? Oh, this is where everything goes to shit and your cauldron of theories blow up."

Yongsun digested the odd comparison, then nodded. "You could say that, If you understand me better that way."

"I know you're judging me but it really does make it better." Moonbyul said under the questioning looks of Yongsun, feeling like a smaller child. "It could be a warning for you to stay out of her way, or telling you what she'll do next."

Yongsun rested her head onto the books, letting her face be one with the surface. "That's what I have been trying to solve. I thought things over on my way and maybe stalled a little too much, but no, I can't outsmart a crazy lady." she sunk deeper into her misery, her eyes losing focus on her surroundings. She was known as the nerdy one in her town for years, and not once she was able to use it for something of importance. This was one time she had a chance to help a person in need with her intellect, and it killed her that she couldn't do it. To her, this was a big puzzle, and she was lost after placing the corner pieces.

"Hey, don't say that. You have twice as much brain cells as the rest of the village combined." Moonbyul leaned forward, her tone not changing in the slightest. This wasn't just a light comment to cheer her up or white lies to ease her heart. "At least as far as I got to see."

Moonbyul didn't contribute to her thought process at all, but the momentary spark of an idea came so well timed that it looked like she did. Yongsun's head raised, quick enough to gave her a couple seconds of dizziness, but her eyes regained their glint again and Moonbyul knew she had a plan. She slammed her hands to the table, making the piles of books scatter around again. The books on the floor outnumbered the ones on the table now, and without some cleanup Yongsun had no way of getting out of the barricade created by her chaos. "I got it."

"You know what she wants?"

Yongsun stood up, kicking books down to forge her path to the exit. The disapproving looks from Moonbyul didn't affect her in the slightest, but made her grin like a mischievous child instead.

"No, but I know how to learn it."


	5. here comes the answer

Acres of wheat danced to the wind going strong as ever, brushing the faces of those who stood at the edge of the field. The trees didn't budge but it's fruits almost flying off of them, a desperate attempt to escape the still life on the branches, unaware that the ground it was going to fall would be no different. The forest wasn't shaking, but the gravity of Yongsun's plan made it seem like it was to Moonbyul, or maybe it was her almost shaky self. There was no need to blame the ground if that was the case.

 _What you're saying is insan_ e. That was what had been in Moonbyul's tongue for hours but instead of speaking up like Yongsun always seemed to do when she had a problem with something, she kneeled besides her oh-so confident friend, with silence. She couldn't believe it, but she really looked back onto her silent nights in the cabin and wished to turn back. This, meddling with the possible frightening truth, made her stomach twist into knots she couldn’t possibly undo.

Yongsun, on the other hand, was ecstatic. Hair tucked behind her ear out of pure excitement, not allowing so much as a strand to obscure her view. If she was even a quarter right, it was too big of an event to misremember. She had her pants on to advance her movement; and her notebook to retell the details her brain could miss. It was already halfway full with her previous studies and notes about Mrs. Lee's house. Needles to say, this was the best midterm project she got to research in her entire life.

“Mrs. Lee won't be here." Moonbyul let out, the words almost freeing. "That woman can't even walk to her front garden without complaining."

Yongsun rolled her eyes, yet didn't turn bother turning her head. "You told me you'll trust me though." Her words came out half-whiny, which was one more reason why Moonbyul went along with the outlandish plan to begin with. "It makes sense and you know it."

Moonbyul murmured, uncomfortable in her space. “You mean the fact that you’re essentially proposing that Mrs. Lee is a witch? No, actually.” she could see Yongsun’s frustration, but voicing her thoughts felt addictive now. Some sense was needed to be said to this theory based on pure hunch and speculation. 

“Then why did you even come here?” Yongsun couldn’t see her expression, but imagined it was somewhat troubled. The scenery in front of her remained unchanged, crops going out as far as she could see, the moonlight casting enough light to let their existence known. Good thing that particular night was a full moon, as their surroundings couldn’t have gotten any brighter if it was any other day. Another well timed decision, but not a stable one.

“Because it made sense for a while, but looking over this empty field now, I’m questioning if we’re about to waste our entire night or not.” 

“I put my money on the latter,” She said, her figure still as an image.

“You’re only saying that because you made us come here.”

Before Moonbyul could even see Yongsun reaching to her, she felt a strong tug and barely saved herself from falling over. She was about to get mad, but her eyes trailed off to the field as a small gaslamp caught her eye. Her eyes didn’t deceive her, although they may as well have been, and Yongsun was right. It was Mrs. Lee, dressed in her nightwear. “Still questioning?” Yongsun whispered, now facing Moonbyul. 

Rustles the old woman made came all too loud to them. “I wish I was,” she replied in the same volume. “What are we going to do now?”

“We’ll observe. If she dares ruining the crops, we’ll stop her. I’m not letting her stupid antics starve my people.”

 _Her stupid antics._ For years that was what it was, but hearing it from a villager made Moonbyul wonder if the village hated her as much as she thought they did. As she watched Mrs. Lee set her lamp on the ground, almost making the crops catch on fire, she realized there was no time to dwell on the past. _Observe_ , she repeated in her head. _Here comes the answer._

Moonlight lit up her gray hair, shedding light on her dark circled eyes covered with exhaustion. Wind chimed along to the scene, and as if the woman was a piece of paper, she fell down at one strong blow with a soft cry. The duo barely exchanged glances, unsure of what to do, when a bright red light outshone the lamp and the moon, almost blinding their eyes. Their heads shot back to the scene to unveil what was the last thing on their minds, a truth more outlandish than anything they ever thought or said. Now, the twisted reality made both of them wish she was a witch.

But there it stood, standing in front of the motionless body of the old lady in it's glory. A demon.

"This vessel is tiring to drag along," The half human looking entity said, loud with the confidence that it was alone. Much taller than the vessel it was in for years, it's skin either burnt or dark red, it's eyes pitch black with a single red dot in the middle. It kicked the old woman's body away, but Yongsun could see the minimal movement in her chest in the time being, making sure she was alive. If she –or any of them at this point– made the night, it would be a miracle.

Yongsun was too busy engraving each and every detail of the creature to even feel any type of fear or disgust. She even surprised herself with how calm and professional she was taking all of this, but then again, she had also dealt with magic a day prior. Some time passed before she noticed Moonbyul had been talking to her, only managing to catch the ending. "–stay here, Yongsun."

"Wait, what?" 

Despite all kinds of signs blaring in her head telling her to stop Moonbyul, her words tied up in her throat and she watched her slip out of their hideout and get near the demon. This felt wrong on all fronts, she still had no actual trust in her magical powers, but at this point she had to stay rational and continue observing. A powerless woman couldn't be much use against a demon, she figured.

The demon turned it's attention to Moonbyul before she could get close enough, yet it let her get near itself anyways. It was obvious, the months of forced isolation it had casted on her was going to lead to this; them standing face to face in the middle of an endless field. It's facial expressions morphed into what Yongsun could only label a smile, though it didn't look anything like it. "Good evening Moon."

"I didn't know common courtesy was a thing among demons," she said, sarcastic enough for Yongsun to fear about her safety in the following seconds. However, she didn't share an ounce of worry with her and Yongsun didn't understand why. Common townsfolk with torches scared her, but a literal demon didn't? 

"Things change," it said, words barely making sense under it's husky voice, low enough to be mistaken to a wild animal. "You know why I'm here."

Yongsun's head was almost empty now, she could do nothing but watch. Watch the catastrophe unfold.

"I should have realized it sooner. She wasn't even that mean when she called me over all those years ago." Moonbyul's voice was as gentle as ever, not even a tremble escaping her lips. "I guess I didn't think a demon would be desperate enough to track me down like this." 

"I'm not desperate," It yelled, moving the crops away with it's breath alone. The volume of it’s voice just proved her words further, allowing her to get as cocky as she wanted. It was obvious from the glint shining through her eyes that she had been waiting for this, although Yongsun couldn’t understand how.

"Aw, how cute," she clasped her hands together, forming the cutest and most plastic smile. Her eyes were just as empty as the demon's now, a faint dark aura shaping behind her. Yongsun thought it was from how tired she was, but the darkness grew thicker and knew this was far too much for her brain to make up. "Thinking you could get out of here alive."

Bluffing was used a lot in history, Yongsun had read. Enemies would threaten to no avail, spew horrific acts just to kneel before the other. Throughout this conversation between the witch and the demon, Yongsun had all the rights to think Moonbyul was doing just that. After all, she only saw the girl with the pretty pink flowers, or the flying corgis.

She had never seen the girl who blew up a storage room at thirteen.

The gaslamp shattered as the flames burst out of the glass, arriving at her fingertips with Moonbyul in control. Yongsun couldn't even digest the neat use of her magic when the demon made the attack she had been foreseeing since the beginning. Only now, she was ready to counter. Each time it's body launched itself onto the smaller witch, she either dodged or burned it off of herself. A demon couldn't actually get killed with fire, but it hurt it nonetheless, and she had to use that fact until she had an actual plan on slaying the demon.

Yongsun noticed the two drifting away from the body of Mrs. Lee, enough for her to come out to the field unnoticed. She didn't even know why she felt the need to do so, but she lay down next to the old woman, checked for a heartbeat again to see she was still alive. She could drag her to the village and prevent both of them from getting any damage from the magical fight. She placed both hands under the body to lift it up, only to abandon that plan whole to see a golden chain sticking out of her pocket. Curiosity got the best of her and she pulled it out to see a pendant. Shaped exactly like those in the paintings, the ones all the women wore with such elegance. She popped it open. It was empty, and Solar couldn't think of anything that could actually go in it given how small it was. Only as small as a drop of water could fit or–

A drop of blood.

Yongsun clicked the pendant off and everything made sense in her head. Why the women in the paintings looked so realistic, why they all had the pendant she was holding now. Why the final piece was unfinished.

The women were all witches, and Moonbyul was supposed to be the last "painting".

Faint screeches of the demon reached her ear, a siren reminding her that time was of the essence. Her brain was a cloudy mess again, but she had no time to sit in despair as all she had didn’t exceed a couple seconds. She could feel the heat of Moonbyul’s magic and the heavy footsteps of the demon vibrating the ground. She acted on her gut before, now was the perfect time to do it again. Without rationalizing her hunch, she reached to the old woman’s back pocket once again and found what she looked for with surprising accuracy; a knife.

Then her logical side kicked in, not to sink her in misery like it often did but to come to her aid this time. Books she had read for years rushed back to provide all the information she could need. She was swimming in her own mind library, her unconscious mind doing most of the work when she found the two pieces of information she needed to string together. It had been mentioned in multiple texts that witches possessed traces of demon blood, thus allowing them to use magic without their bodies being too overwhelmed. The pendant was aimed for witches, meaning that demon blood was the only distinguishing fact it looked for. Which also meant it could work as a demon trap. She needed to get a cut through the giant while staying in the shadows, and oh- she also needed to catch Moonbyul up to speed.

There was no time. If Moonbyul burnt her out of shock, then so be it.

The heat the demon radiated was insane, combined with the fire attacks it endured Yongsun had little chance to get close, let alone stab the knife deep enough to draw blood, but if she went to it's legs, which was almost Yongsun's height, she could do her job without letting the demon notice her. Plus, with vines emerging from the ruined soil of the field to hold it, it was almost like Moonbyul was in on her plan. 

The demon stepped towards Moonbyul, a vine snapped, and another grew right back only to be ruined again. Yongsun didn't need complex magic knowledge to guess she was getting tired. She embraced the cold metal of the knife in her tighter, spreading her legs to a running stance. _Now or never, Yongsun_. 

A wave of heat hit her face with each step she took, yet she narrowed her eyes as much as she could, not letting her eyeballs burn, and ran. She kneeled at the last second, letting her velocity take the wheel and give her the one shot at slashing it's leg with the speed she was skittling down the steep field. Whatever that was happening, the heat didn't let her see and the adrenaline pumping her heart didn't let her hear. Some kind of pressure was on the knife, but she could have scratched a tree for all she knew. Whatever she did, her legs hurt from taking the semi fall, and she still had to get up and get the blood into the pendant, if there were blood at all. Her eyes were far from working, but her senses were coming back, with a low grunt in her ears and a hand slapping her face.

"Yongsun, what the fuck?!"

As if she was the one fighting the demon, her eyelids stuck when she tried opening them. "What?"

"What do you mean what? What did you have in mind when you rushed in like that? Do you have any idea-"

Yongsun felt the pendant wrapped around her wrist, her plan slowly inkling back into her mind. With this state, she had no way in carrying out the rest of it, so she dropped the pendant into Moonbyul, then pointed at the demon which was rising again. "Get it's blood into this."

Moonbyul held the pendant in such a way that Yongsun wanted to get up and do it herself despite how bad her knees hurted. "Into this necklace. Neat," she said, but _neat_ was far from her actual opinions on the plan.

"When did you ever see me be wrong, Moonbyul? Do it," She said, holding back her whines of pain as she stood up. "I'm not the one the demon is looking for."

With the pendant now in her hand and the demon standing, she had already wasted enough time. The wound was still open and gushed enough blood for her to have a chance. For what she wanted to be the last time, she gathered up a big enough fireball to kick it to the ground again, following up with vines full of thorns to hold the leg in place. She had no energy whatsoever, but let herself power walk, and let the pendant absorb the one drop of blood it needed. Her hands were trembling with anxiousness and adrenaline fused together when she snapped it shut. The grumbles of the demon stopped, the night crickets took over the silence. She stared down into the red in it's eyes just enough to see the terror in it, and before she knew it she was staring at the crushed crops instead.

The demon was slayed, and so was the remaining energy left in the two girls.


	6. they were going to be alright

Naggings of her big sister echoed through the hallway and reached her room, the warm blanket shielding her from the cold weather of the morning. She opened her eyes to the ceiling she has been seeing every day. She was home.

She stood up, only for a shot of pain to struck her back. It would be more surprising if she didn't have any wounds at all. Speaking of, she let the blanket off of herself to see her bruised knees, purple and red mixed into the healing area. A proper rest was what she needed, but sitting around without knowing what happened after she passed out would be only worse for her.

With her legs betraying her each step, she let herself to the living room, instantly gaining the attention of her family. First her mother hugged her, her sister rolling her eyes but still showing her gratefulness underneath.

"Are you okay?" her mother said, not backing up from the embrace. Yongsun didn't have an answer, she felt neutral on all fronts as her brain was yet to register the past couple hours. She eventually nodded to comfort her mother.

Yonghee, her sister, spoke up. "She's standing, I'd say she is more than fine."

"Hey, it still hurts, this doesn't mean you get to load all the work to me."

"I do not-"

Her father fake coughed to bring order in the room. It wasn't unusual for the two of them to sidetrack into a fight in a blink. Yongsun could feel the warmness of familiarity fill up her chest, this was what home felt before the magical mess she tangled herself into. Seeing everything was intact soothed her, she was letting the magical stuff get into her since the moment she had met Moonbyul.

Moonbyul. She had no idea what had happened to her.

"Did the other one leave already?" Yonghee said, turning back to rest her arms on the couch, facing her dad. "I mean I wanted my room back but it would have been nice if she told us who she was and all." she casted a side glance to Yongsun, wanting the answer from her instead. Yongsun didn't know how to break it down to them that she was the witch everyone so despised.

"Maybe Yongsun knows." her mother said, oblivious to Yonghee's silent pressures.

Yongsun felt cornered, but also her family knew about her visiting Moonbyul already. They just didn't know the chaos she involuntarily wrapped Yongsun in, and given her reputation it wouldn't help in her current situation. She couldn't go out and say she went out and fought a demon first thing in the morning. "Tell me where she went first."

"She said she had some business back in the field I found you two in but," her father was concerned before anything. "...is everything alright?"

She knew that after her father dragged both of them over to the village -she figured that's what had happened-, she owed at least this. "Yes, I just have to make sure she's okay and then I'll tell you everything," she said, although she had no idea how to do that. She just wanted to be away from the village and recollect her thoughts before she sat them down. Magic, demons, facing near death. Not the best conversation for their breakfast table, not if she wanted at least one of them to choke on their food.

She squinted her eyes to face the sun, but the sky welcomed her with thick grey clouds instead. The winter crept on them faster than they had expected, and sure enough the crops that survived last night couldn't possibly last 'till spring. People ran around to go on with their day, and Yongsun felt her own words bite her in the ass now. Useless antics ruining a season worth of crops. Turned out she couldn't prevent it after all. Yet she also knew they were lucky crops were the only thing they lost yesterday, though no one was aware yet. If they were, no one would be this in peace and definitely wouldn't be smiling. She even heard someone say that products looked bright this year, which stinged her heart just a little more.

She diverged from the main dirt path and onto the green land of the woods, looking saturated despite the lack of sunlight to bring color on them. This wasn't normal, but Yongsun blamed it on her drowsy mind and continued on her way which her legs automatically took her to. Seeing the half burned field wasn't going to be fun, the anxiety already sat on top of her chest and she couldn't imagine how worse it would get once she arrived.

She felt she was lost. There was no way she was, she knew the area like the nack of her hand, but her area felt more foreign the more she advanced. She waited for the ruined part of the field to start, but it never came. Instead, it was fresh patches of wheat, corns, whatever they planted that failed on them bloomed on this particular autumn morning, which was a little too late. Only when she moved away the plants to make way did she see how.

"I can't believe you," she said, not holding back. "Did you seriously..?"

Sitting in the middle of it all, her two hands pressed on the soil to bring life around her, Moonbyul raised her head to see Yongsun's just as tired eyes. "Unless you want to believe they grew on their own, yes."

Yongsun sat beside her, letting nature cover them up. She listened to the strong wind blazing above them but not getting to them, the birds chirping in the distance. 48 hours for her to went on a rollercoaster of a journey, only for her to sit besides Moonbyul and get lost in her thoughts. Did she know setting foot into the no man land would unfold such catastrophes and beauty? _No_ , Yongsun recited to herself, _there_ _is no way I can come up with something like this._

"What are you going to do now?" Yongsun asked, but knew the question also went to herself. "Will we tell people about the demon?"

"No, they'll be scared if they learn they have been talking to one for years," Moonbyul said, thinking as she dozed off of her work again. She never seemed to concentrate properly when there were people, or maybe it was just Yongsun. There was no way for her to know. "However, if they agree to not torch me, maybe I'll think about protecting the village from any demonic intrusion."

Questions about last night reignited in her head with her last sentence, but didn't even know where to start. She decided to answer her instead of drowning her with questions about magic and demons. "If you tell them you fixed the crops, they'll forget about the past almost immediately."

Moonbyul shook her head, not convinced. "It can't be that easy."

"Believe me, it is. They're so dumb." Yongsun couldn't help herself laugh, letting Moonbyul loosen up too. She seemed tense from all the work she had done, and for Yongsun it was quite enough. She stood up, also tugging Moonbyul to do the same. When she complied without resistance, Yongsun smiled with her small achievement. "Does this mean you'll move to the village?"

"No, I don't think so." Moonbyul could see the sudden pout she had, a small disappointment all too visible without having to say it. "I got used to the cabin. It's small, and it's peaceful," she said, letting the words out in such a soft manner that Yongsun had a harder time getting upset over them.

"I get it." Yongsun said, letting go of the childish instinct to nag at her until she moved right next to her. Plus, if the cabin remained it meant a permanent hideout from everyone when she needed one. Maybe it was better if she stayed there, with her three dogs and small bottles of potions. She could come in the mornings and go back when the stars shone the brightest. Yongsun could sneak the books Moonbyul couldn't get her hands on and make her study. They could sit around, do practically nothing, and it was still a heavenly daydream for Yongsun.

It was going to be alright.

Moonbyul stepped closer, time slowing down once again. Were the birds going slow or were they going fast, she couldn't tell. But she knew it was no magic, it was her mind letting her savor the moment, though nothing happened of importance. Just them staring, adoring, thanking each other with looks alone. _Thank you for bringing color into my life_ , both of them went, but neither of them were aware they shared the same thought. She felt her hand tucking a strand of hair away and a small _poof_ sound right behind her ear. She didn't have to look, she didn't have to touch it.

She knew the witch was the biggest cheese ball ever and it was a pink flower.


	7. bonus: a midnight spell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was an extra chapter that didn't make it. As online school started for most of us again, I wanted to post this cute fluff for you to enjoy. It is far from perfect but I hope you stay safe and enjoy reading ♥

"Moonbyul, are you sure you want to do this now?"

The two of them were standing at the edge of the village for the last couple of hours, the people long gone into sleep. After the events which followed their meeting, it was no question some sort of protection was a must to prevent a repeat of the Mrs. Lee situation. While it was a good plan on paper, when they tried to do so earlier that day with the winter sun shining on them, it caught the attention of the town soon after. Turns out, people hadn't gotten over from the fact that a witch was among them now, even though it had been well over a week. It was for the best, though, doing the protection spell midnight in the witching hour.

"We waited too long already. We still have the pendant, and we can't wait for more demons to come while we figure out how to destroy it for good." Her voice had an edge to it, a worry Yongsun was yet to hear even when she faced a demon. Though she was yet to admit it to her verbally, she was scared of the dangers the pendant might lure in. Lucky for her, Yongsun was great at reading people from afar.

They had already circled in the entire village area with salt, all that was left to do was on Moonbyul, as she had the spell book in her hand already. For the past week both of them barely stepped outside from the library, leading on an intense study session with Yongsun covering the ancient books with highlighters and sticky notes. The librarian would have gotten mad, if there were anyone else who even used the library. He figured it was best for them to trash it all they want, plus he appreciated the new company Yongsun had.

She listened to the wind howling above them, shivering with nothing to protect her. Stepping closer to Moonbyul, she prayed her magic would be just as warm as last time, because she actually needed it now. She sat right under her feet, waited for some kind of action, but it never came. "What are you waiting for?"

"Just trying to memorize. I was never good with traditional spells," she said under her breath, her eyes darting to the page to read what she had been for many times before. Yongsun couldn't silently watch her friend be miserable anymore.

"You are not going to mess this up, you know."

She plopped down beside her, the book still open. When she fell silent with nothing to say besides looking at the jumbled complex words and letting out a sigh, Yongsun took the lead once again. "We practiced this. My doll house is fully protected from demons now, so think of this as a bigger sized model of that."

"If I messed that up, the worst would be your toy burning. I can't afford to make a mistake."

Yongsun knew at that point to close the book, because she knew this look. Her eyes tired, her shoulders slumped. Back when she attended her private school in the big city, exams would have made her just like this as she cried on her desk at three in the morning. Whenever that happened, the problem would usually be about herself, not at how good her mathematics were. "I know, that's why you need to calm down. Disaster scenarios don't help anyone."

"I know that," she murmured, feeling the motherly looks of her peer once again. It became a common occurrence especially since she started adjusting into life in the village. "I just looked back at my time here before I messed everything up. When I settled here as a child."

"I have to admit twelve is a very young age to start living on your own." Yongsun thought back on the first time she learned said fact, almost feeling pity. Then she would see the mature woman she had become and put that feeling aside.

"Well, my mother visited me a lot back then, but it's a tradition. She even broke the rules by staying with me, but then acted so cool about it, like she could get away with such a thing." she said, not feeling the need to mention that her mother of course got away with it. 

"Leaving your child alone in the middle of the woods is your tradition?"

Moonbyul chuckled along, only for her amusement to fade away in an instant. "I came here to help people, that's the tradition. To break the general stigma around witches, you know, big goals loaded onto a small child. So it's no wonder when said child attempts to do such a thing, she fails almost immediately."

Yongsun stared at her teary eyes in disbelief, and she felt anger like no other. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard," she said, and realized why she couldn't pity the witch now. Because there was simply no reason to, and she was ready to spill all the reasons why not to her until she understood 

"What?"

"You never failed. A demon possessed an elderly woman, told you that you failed. You believed it because you were thirteen and didn't know any better, plus you were already isolated enough and had minimum to no training in your craft. You're the witch, tell me; can someone under these conditions beat a demon?"

Under the harsh stares of Yongsun, catching her breath from her big speech, Moonbyul couldn't disagree even though her anxiety induced brain could come up with a million reasons why she was wrong. At the end of the day, she was the one who ran full speed into a demon with nothing to lose, so maybe she should be more intimidated by her. "I guess, not?"

Yongsun smiled, softening her stance against the already stressed Moonbyul. "Why are you doubting yourself now? You talked all cocky to a demon, but a protection spell scares you?"

By the way the tear vault opened once again, she knew she hit the jackpot. "That's the thing. I was supposed to protect you back then, but the whole thing went the other way around, I– I put you in danger. You were lucky, Yongsun. Extremely lucky. If this pendant ever causes us another trouble, I should be able to take it out on my own. I can't risk–"

She didn't have to finish her sentence for Yongsun to understand. I can't risk losing you. As she took deep breaths to calm herself down and not actually weep the witching hour away, Yongsun felt her words tie up in her throat. What was she going to say against that? As much as she hated to admit it, Moonbyul was right. Yongsun got lucky that night, and she may never have that kind of chance again to help her. That would explain their studies dragging around to nighttime, although it didn't bother her at all. All she could do was to hold her hand, still resting on the hardcover of the book. They stayed just like that for a moment, no noises except the scattering leaves. Yongsun felt the cold flutter away whole, and at first she thought it was the intimate moments' impact on her body, but it was much stronger of an effect. She snapped out of her mind, came back to the real world to hear the faint whispers of Moonbyul reciting the spell. 

It was her magic that warmed her up. Magic that inked over to her body from her hand. There was no way a faulty spell could unleash such pure energy, and if it did maybe it wasn't a failed one after all. She didn't care about the slim chance of the spell going wrong at this point. In her heart, she knew she did it. Still, she raised her head to see a blue mass of energy cover up the village in a sphere, the visible confirmation she needed. "You did it," she said in the same volume as Moonbyul.

"No, we did this together." She tightened her grip on Yongsun's hand, some sliver of warmth still passing through their hand. Now it was their feelings infused with magic, keeping them from freezing in the winter cold.

Yongsun didn't disagree, she rested her head onto her shoulder and tried her best keeping up the magical transmission, if she could at all. She liked to believe she did, and hoped Moonbyul couldn't sense the fact that she was trying a little too hard at it. When Moonbyul started laughing, unprompted, she felt her cheeks redden. _Does she know?_

"Yeah I do."

That's when Yongsun regretted helping her with the mind reading spell for the rest of their days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is a sequel I will be posting late autumn, and it includes wheesa. not sure how it will work out but I began writing it and I can tell you it will be much longer with more conflict
> 
> stay tuned? I don't know. Read some other fics until then.


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